JOE GELHARDT is still to open his account in a Sunderland shirt, but Tony Mowbray remains convinced the Leeds United loanee will make a goalscoring impact between now and the end of the season.

Since joining the Black Cats in the final week of last month’s transfer window, on loan from Elland Road, Gelhardt has made three appearances, with Sunderland picking up seven points from an available nine while he has been in the side.

The 20-year-old has shown plenty of effort and industry, dropping deep to link play, spinning into the channels and bursting beyond opposition defences, but he is yet to break his goalscoring duck in red-and-white stripes.

He could not have come much closer during Tuesday’s 3-0 win at QPR, clipping the crossbar with an instinctive second-half shot after Patrick Roberts crossed from the right, and while Mowbray accepts the youngster is a different type of striker to the injured Ross Stewart, he is confident he will start scoring soon.

“Joe will score goals for us,” said the Sunderland boss, whose side climbed to fifth position in the table as a result of their win at Loftus Road. “He’s a kid who’s played ten minutes here and ten minutes there for Leeds United.

“He’s never played 90 minutes, that’s why I’m bringing him off, because I need him to start on Saturday and give us another hour or 70 minutes at the weekend.

“He’s as strong as an ox and he works his socks off. He’s got a rocket in his left foot – he will score goals. He’s a really talented boy. I watch him training, and you watch him linking with Patrick and Amad (Diallo) and it’s amazing talent. He just needs to understand how our team plays and what the demands are on him, really.”

The Northern Echo: Joe Gelhardt fires in a shot against QPRJoe Gelhardt fires in a shot against QPR (Image: Ian Horrocks)

Prior to moving to Wearside, Gelhardt was on the fringe of things at Leeds during the first half of the season.

The Liverpool-born forward made just one Premier League start under Jesse Marsch, and while he came off the bench on 14 occasions for the Elland Road club, most of those substitute appearances were cameos in the final ten minutes of games.

Suddenly, he finds himself leading the line for Sunderland in three games in a week, and Mowbray accepts that is not necessarily an easy change to handle for such a young and inexperienced player.

“He’s a young boy who’s always been behind (Patrick) Bamford and Rodrigo and all these Premier League players at Leeds,” he said. “He’s just a young kid who was given ten minutes every couple of weeks.

“So, for him to come into a team and be asked to play 70, 80 or 90 minutes in football matches every three days is a huge ask for the kid because he’s only a baby really. But he’s a wonderful talent.”